Verb

(obsolete) To be strong; to have power (over).

(obsolete, auxiliary) To be able; can.

*, II.3.6:

But many timeswe give way to passions we may resist and will not.

(poetic) To be able to go.

* 1600 , (William Shakespeare), (w, A Midsummer Night's Dream) , III.3:

O weary night, O long and tedious night, / Abate thy houres, shine comforts from the East, / That I may backe to Athens by day-light […].

(modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests.

(modal auxiliary verb, defective) Expressing a present possibility; possibly.

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Phil Dawkes, work=BBC Sport

, title=[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/15045630.stm Sunderland 2-2 West Brom] , passage=The result may not quite give the Wearsiders a sweet ending to what has been a sour week, following allegations of sexual assault and drug possession against defender Titus Bramble, but it does at least demonstrate that their spirit remains strong in the face of adversity.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)

, title=[http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21580518-terrible-name-interesting-trend-rise-smart-beta The rise of smart beta] , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}

(subjunctive present, defective) Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect).

* 1974 , (Bob Dylan),

May' God bless and keep you always / '''May''' your wishes all come true / '''May''' you always do for others / And let others do for you / '''May''' you build a ladder to the stars / And climb on every rung / ' May you stay forever young

* Prior

How old may Phillis be, you ask.

Verb

(en verb)

To gather may.

* 1922 , , VII, lines 1-2

In valleys green and still / Where lovers wander maying

Verb

(label) To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

to lay''' a book on the table;   to '''lay a body in the grave

A shower of rain lays the dust.

* Bible, (w) vi. 17

A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.

* 1735 , author unknown, The New-England Primer'', as reported by Fred R. Shapiro in ''The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Yale University Press, pages 549–550:

Now I lay me down to sleep, / I pray the Lord my Soul to keep. / If I should die before I ’wake, / I pray the Lord my Soul to take.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him.}}

*

*:An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.

:: A corresponding intransitive version of this word is .

To cause to subside or abate.

* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.viii:

The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd , they fiercely then begin to shoure

* 1662 , , Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems , Dialogue 2:

But how upon the winds being laid , doth the ship cease to move?

(label) To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).

* 2006 , (Clive James), North Face of Soho , Picador 2007, p. 48:

Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled.

(label) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.

lay''' brick;  '''lay flooring

(label) To produce and deposit an egg.

(label) To bet (that something is or is not the case).

I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.

(label) To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.

* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

I dare lay mine honour / He will remain so.

To have sex with.

* 1944 , (Raymond Chandler), The Lady in the Lake , Penguin 2011, p. 11:

‘It's because he's a no-good son of a bitch who thinks it is smart to lay his friends' wives and brag about it.’

(label) To take a position; to come or go.

to lay''' forward;  to '''lay aloft

(label) To state; to allege.

to lay the venue

(Bouvier)

(label) To point; to aim.

to lay a gun

(label) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.

to lay a cable or rope

(label) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.

(label) To place (new type) properly in the cases.

To apply; to put.

* Bible, (w) xxxi. 19

She layeth her hands to the spindle.

To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).

to lay a tax on land

* Bible, (w) liii. 6

The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

To impute; to charge; to allege.

* Bible, (w) xxiv. 12

God layeth not folly to them.

* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

Lay the fault on us.

To present or offer.

to lay''' an indictment in a particular county;   to '''lay a scheme before one

(Webster 1913)

Verb

(head)

(lie) when pertaining to position.

The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.

(proscribed) To be in a horizontal position; to lie (from confusion with lie).

* 1969' July, Bob Dylan, “'''Lay''' Lady '''Lay ”, ''Nashville Skyline , Columbia:

Lay', lady, '''lay'''. / ' Lay across my big brass bed.

* a.'' 1970 , Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, ''Bridge over Troubled Water , Columbia Records:

Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters / Where the ragged people go

* 1974 , John Denver, “Annie’s Song”, Back Home Again , RCA:

Let me lay down beside you. / Let me always be with you.

Verb

To don (put on) (tefillin (gloss)).